Bosnia losing many young people to emigration over poor education, work prospects

Arijana Pirusic, 23, an architecture student, speaks during interview with Reuters in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina November 18, 2021. Picture taken November 18, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

SARAJEVO/PRIJEDOR, Bosnia (Reuters) - Architecture student Arijana Pirusic is one of some 23,000 young people planning to leave Bosnia in search of better education or work opportunities, part of an annual brain drain from their troubled homeland.

A new survey by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) found that 47% of Bosnians - or 269,000 - aged 18-29 are thinking of going abroad temporarily or for good, unhappy with a lack of jobs, poor public services and endemic corruption.